SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Savannah police and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources have scheduled a boater safety course later this month that will be required for anyone under age 12 to operate motor-powered vessels in state waters.

The July 19 safety course is free. A new state law that took effect July 1 requires anyone born since January 1998 to complete a boater education course approved by the DNR before they can pilot a powerboat in Georgia.

The course will be taught at the Savannah-Chatham County police training facility at the Savannah Mall. Another course will be held on Aug. 16.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.

UGA to host national political science conference

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Political science professors and graduate students from across the U.S. will meet later this month for a conference at the University of Georgia.

The political science department at the Athens campus will host the annual meeting of the Society for Political Methodology from July 24 to 26. The conference is expected to draw about 180 professors and grad students. John Maltese, UGA's political science department head, says it's a prestigious conference that will give the university "national exposure" among political scholars.

The Society for Political Methodology is a section of the American Political Science Association that's devoted to using advanced statistical techniques in the study of politics.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.

Georgia man to plead in dog fighting case

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An 11th person is planning to plead guilty in a dog-fighting investigation that stretched from Texas to Georgia.

Edward Duckworth of suburban Atlanta filed court papers Monday in Montgomery, Alabama, saying he wants to plead guilty. A federal judge is scheduled to take his plea Wednesday.

Ten other defendants from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas have already pleaded guilty and are scheduled for sentencing in August.

Investigators seized more than 400 pit bulls while developing the case.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.

Police: Men grab $2,000 in soap, hygiene items

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) — Police are trying to figure out why three men walked into a CVS pharmacy in Atlanta's northern suburbs and stole $2,000 in soap and other personal care items.

Authorities say the men were filmed by surveillance cameras as they carried out the July 1 heist at the store on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, just north of Atlanta.

Sandy Springs police Sgt. Ron Momon tells WSB-TV that the suspects walked into the store and casually grabbed the items, then walked out of the store past cashiers.

Police said they wanted to catch up with the men to find out why they took the products.

Information from: WSB-TV.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.

Skateboarder struck, killed by car near Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old man riding a skateboard has been struck and killed by a car south of Atlanta.

WXIA-TV reports that the crash happened around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday on Bethsaida Road near Brown Drive South in south Fulton County.

Witnesses told police the teen was riding his skateboard in the road when the collision occurred. The skateboarder was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he was pronounced dead.

Fulton County Police Lt. Scott McBride said the 23-year-old driver who hit the teen stayed on the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. No charges have been filed.

Information from: WXIA-TV.

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